


this world we live in

by thegoldenkittenking (empty_cup_and_a_chipped_heart)



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Apocalypse, F/M, no zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-21 13:12:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12458499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empty_cup_and_a_chipped_heart/pseuds/thegoldenkittenking
Summary: A little house on a hill gives Carol, Sophia, and Daryl a respite from the world they live in. A Non-Zombie Apocalypse AU





	this world we live in

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Ninelives October Challenge  
> Prompt: Snuggling for warmth, strawberries, popcorn, showers, confessions
> 
>  
> 
> The monsters in this are based a little on George RR Martin’s Others and Samantha Shannon’s emim from the series The Bone Season (which is like my favorite series ever)

Carol’s breath mists in the air as the car door slams behind her. Her boots crunch on the gravel as she rounds the car, anxiously waiting for Sophia and Daryl to return. Looks to the forest to where they disappeared into. It holds unimaginable horrors and any one could come at her or them at any moment. Waits on a hair trigger, ready and prepared for anything. A twig cracks behind her and Carol whirls, gun out, breath short and shallow. Daryl and Sophia stand behind her. 

“Jesus,” Carol breathes, trying to calm her rapid heartbeat. 

“Sorry,” Daryl mutters looking slightly ashamed, “Didn’t mean to scare ya.”

Carol offers him a small smile as an acknowledgment for his apology and asks, “Did you find anything?” 

Daryl nods. “A little house, few miles back. All empty and clear.”

“It looks nice Mom,” Sophia adds.

“Let’s go.”

Carol’s agreement is all they need and they’re back in the car and on their way. She watches the woods as they drive away, searching for any hint of movement. Any flash of white. 

The woods are silent though, revealing nothing of what’s hiding inside.

***

No one knows where _they_ came from. Some think they were alien invaders. Others thought maybe they’d always lived aside humanity, pointing to old myths as proof.

Carol’s seen them though and she knows they come from the depths of Hell. 

***

Daryl keeps an eye on the clearing surrounding the house as Carol and Sophia unpack inside. The house-- which looks like it should be in some forested corner of England-- sits atop a hill. Gives them an advantage but makes Daryl uneasy. Feels too much like their sitting ducks.

He surveys the area one more time before heading inside. The door opens with a slight creak and both Carol and Sophia look up as he enters. Sophia turns back to unpacking her sleeping bag and pack as Carol gives him a tired half-smile.

He sits next to Carol and she asks, “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” he responds and begins to unpack his own bag. 

He found Sophia and Carol a little over a year ago. Stumbled into a house he thought he could get a break in, only to walk in on something that looked like a True Crime special. First he thought she got one of those white-ass fuckers but the oily, black ichor he knew to expect wasn’t there. Everything was stained scarlet. Carol’s clothes, the knife she desperately clenched between her hands, the white kitchen tiles. Sophia hid behind her mother, wearing the same panicked, hunted expression as Carol. Daryl has no idea why he spoke to them carefully and quietly until Carol handed over the knife and understands even less why he threw in with them. They were deadweight at best and insane at worst. Maybe it was the expressions they wore, how they flinched at any sudden movement. Carol and Sophia was the same as him. 

Carol’s unpacked and sitting on top of her sleeping bag, leaning against the couch that’s been pushed against the wall. She’s wistfully staring down the hall towards the bathroom and sighs. 

“What I wouldn’t give for a hot shower.”

“I’d give all my books and my gun,” Sophia says.

“Not yer plushies?” Daryl asks.

Sophia picks up one of the many abandoned stuffed animals she’s collected and hugs it to her chest. They’re the saddest, ugliest fucking things he’s ever seen but Sophia loves all four like her own children

“Never.”

Carol gives them both a soft, bemused smile as Daryl shakes his head in mock disgust. It gets a light laugh out of Sophia who then stands and announces she’s going into the kitchen to look for dinner. 

He can hear banging and shuffling in the kitchen as Sophia goes through the cupboards on a hunt for food. 

“Are you still thinking on trying for Washington?” Carol asks.

They discussed the possibility the other night while Sophia was asleep. He figures it might be one of the few places left with a plan and infrastructure. If they can make it, it might be the last hope in this world.

“Yeah.”

Carol’s quiet for a moment. “Do you think we’ll make it?”

There’s about 600 miles between them and DC. Six hundred miles of cold, barren land. _They_ bring it with them-- the cold. Froze out the entire planet.

“Course,” Daryl replies with more confidence than he feels. Anything could happen between here and there and this world is full of uncertainties. He’ll do anything to make sure they make it to DC.

Sophia comes out a moment later with soup cans and one of those foil pans of popcorn you can heat up over a fire. 

“I found soup. And one of those Jiffy Pop pans too. Do you think we can have it tonight too?”

They start a fire in the fireplace, using it to heat up the soup and later the popcorn. Sophia smiles for the first time in weeks and even Carol brightens a bit. 

Daryl wishes they could have popcorn every night.

***

It still smells like popcorn in the house, even hours later. A comforting smell that reminds Carol of the weekends Ed was on a work trip and Sophia and Carol had the house to themselves. Curl up in front of some silly movie and eat popcorn for dinner. Some of the few good memories she has from Before.

Carol watches Sophia sleep from Daryl’s side. She’s supposed to be asleep as well, but she doesn’t sleep well anymore. _They_ become more active at night and heir hideous clicks and screams carry for miles. 

Sleep is no longer restful.

She shivers in the cool air the thin sweater and coat offering little in the way of warmth. Snuggles in closer to Daryl’s side trying to steal his body heat. He says nothing but wraps his arm around her, respectfully resting his hand on her waist. 

“Gotta find ya a better coat.”

She glances up at him and smiles lightly. That’s one of the few constants in her life-- how much Daryl cares about them both.

“It would be nice.”

She’s quiet for a few moments. Remembers how they met, how Daryl could have left them-- should have left them-- for dead. “Daryl? Thank you for taking us in, we would have died out there if it weren’t for you.”

“Nah. Ya had it in you. Survival. From the very first day I found ya.”

She’s surprised at his little confession. Never felt capable or adequate Before, much less now. Maybe she is, now. After the months of learning, maybe she could do this by herself.

He doesn’t pull away from her when she leans her head against his shoulder and drifts off. 

She sleeps better in his arms than she has for weeks.

***

Carol thinks two or three weeks have passed since the soup and popcorn house. They’re at the Georgia/South Carolina border. Sophia and she are waiting for Daryl to return from a quick hunting trip in the woods. Hates letting him go off on his own but neither her nor Daryl will leave Sophia on her own. 

Sophia’s reading in the back seat of the car as Carol waits outside, leaning against the hood. Drums her leg against the bumper at a steady rhythm as she scans the horizon for any sign of Daryl. Waiting it it’s own hell. 

He finally comes into view and relief floods her body. He comes up with a scrawny looking squirrel and something cupped in his palms. Sophia gets out of the car and walks up to Carol as Daryl reaches them.

“Here.” He splits his handful into two placing strawberries into both her and Sophia’s hands. 

Carol pops one into her mouth and bites down. It’s sweet and slightly tart. 

They taste like hope. 


End file.
